Learn How To Jump Higher

Step #1 – Learn How To Jump Higher By Strengthening Your Legs

First things first and that is you have to get your legs stronger. Your ability to jump higher is directly related to the strength you have in your legs and your ability to transfer that strength into what we call plyometric training.

Ideally you should be able to squat at least 1.5x your bodyweight, if not 2x, your bodyweight before really getting into plyometric work.

A lot of people end up skipping out on leg day because they end up being extremely sore. If you want to learn how to jump higher than getting in the weight room is the first thing you need to do.

Things such as squats, deadlifts, and lunges will be key to getting your legs strong enough to produce some serious vertical jumping ability.

A sample program to strengthen the legs could include:

Barbell back squats

Barbell deadlifts

Dumbbell step ups

Single leg calf raises

The training protocol could be something like this:

3 sets of each exercise

4-6 reps of each exercise

2-3 minutes of rest between each set

If you’re new to weight training then you’ll need to go a little lighter and follow this protocol:

3 sets of each exercise

8-12 reps of each exercise

60-90 seconds of rest between each set

Work your way up the rep range throughout your workouts. Once you can perform each set at the highest number of the rep range then you need to add some weight. Again work back up the weight range. This type of training will provide your legs with the much needed strength when learning how to jump higher.

Step #2 – Learn how to jump higher by strengthening your core

Now strengthening your legs is very important in learning how to jump higher, but strengthening your core is just as important.

Most of your body’s ability to jump, turn, and twist comes from your hips and core. Your core is pretty much everything from your mid to lower torso to your hips. A lot of people think of the core as just your abs but it’s not.

Your core is a complex set of muscle and fibers that surround the entire middle portion of your body. Having a stronger core will improve your ability to move quickly and explosively by changing directions with ease.

If you’re looking to improve your core strength there are no two better exercises than the plank and side plank.

You should perform core work:

3 days a week

No more than 10 minutes a day

And focus on your entire core and not just your six pack

Some great exercises to strengthen your core when wanting to jump higher are:

Front plank

Side plank

Russian twist

Weighted cable crunch

V-ups

These exercises will improve the overall core strength of your entire core including your abs, obliques, low back, and hips.

Try not to perform core work every single day, they need rest just like any other muscle in your body.

Step #3 – Learn How To Jump Higher By Improving Explosiveness

The next thing you need to do is work on transferring the strength you’ve built into explosiveness.

This is the ability to produce maximum force as quickly as possible through your newly developed strength in your legs.

We referred to this earlier as plyometric training. Plyometrics train your muscles in the stretch shortening cycle which pretty much creates a spring like action in your muscles.

Once you’ve developed enough pure strength you have to work on making that strength as explosive as possible. The more quickly you can get all of your muscle fibers contracting and at full force, the higher you will be able to jump.

Again, you need to make sure that you have strengthened your legs before really getting into plyometric work. If you want to learn how to jump higher you have to put in some serious training to get the gains that you want.

Learning how to jump higher is much easier once you’ve built a solid base.

Once that base is built up you can start with some explosive exercises such as:

Squat jumps

Depth jumps

Lunge Jumps

I’ll go into more detail on plyometric exercises in another article.

Step #4 – Learn How To Jump Higher By Implementing Proper Recovery

The key to improving both your strength and explosiveness is a proper recovery from working out. Most people will work hard in the gym but don’t realize that improvement in strength only happens when you’re letting your muscles rest.

If you work your legs out every single day without any sort of rest they’ll never be able to recover.

I like to think of it as a stepping ladder.

When you’re recovered you start off at a certain point. Then when you work out you break down muscle fibers and this takes you down one step on the ladder. If you recover properly you muscle fibers will recover and get stronger and put you higher up on the ladder than where you started.

However if you keep hammering your legs day in and day out you will keep moving down that ladder and never improving. You will just break the muscle fiber down more and more each and every day.

Step #5 – Learn How To Jump Higher By Eating Right

Now all your training on how to jump higher won’t lead to much unless you give yourself some proper recovery and eating right.

What you put in your body will help your body recover from the tough training you’re going through. What you’re doing in the gym and on the court won’t transfer into a better vertical jump if you’re not eating right.

A diet high in protein, about 1 gram per pound of body weight, will help aid your muscles in recover and allow you to get stronger.

High protein foods include:

Boneless skinless chicken breast

Protein powder

Lean ground beef (at least 90% lean)

Beans

Dairy products (but be careful and watch out for the saturated fat)

You also need to be eating lots of vegetables as well to get in the vitamins and minerals your muscles need to recover.

You have to feed your body like it’s a machine. If you do this, your body will reward you with huge gains in strength and your ability to jump higher.

Training won’t get you where you need to be without the proper recovery and nutrition.